


Let Me Love You

by WritingWrittenWords



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Attempt #218, Eleanor just let yourself be loved, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Maybe angst, Multichapter, Season 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-23 07:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16614827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWrittenWords/pseuds/WritingWrittenWords
Summary: Despite what Michael insists, Eleanor knows she's not in love with Chidi. It doesn't matter what happened in the reboots, she knows herself. She wasn't in love then, and she isn't now. She's not even sure she's capable of loving someone... That is, until she sees reboot #218.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place right after S3E6 when Michael drops the bomb on Eleanor.

Eleanor laughs hysterically, a laugh that rings in Michael’s ears. 

“What?” Michael asks, smiling uncomfortably. “Why are you laughing?”

Eleanor ends her laughing fit with a few short snorts, followed by a long and exaggerated exhale. “Michael you crack me up. Me and Chidi?” She begins to laugh again; this time Michael stops her quickly with a stern voice.

“Eleanor, I don’t see why this is funny, I’m telling you the truth. You and Chidi belong together. It’s been proven hundreds of times in my experiment.” He says, furrowing his eyebrows further.

Eleanor looks at him skeptically, still grinning with her classic cocky smile. “I really can’t see myself with that dork, Mikey. I mean, sure he’s ripped as hell and sure he’s the kindest guy I know; but I just don’t like him like that. He’s like, my best friend.” 

Michael sighs, looking down with confusion. “It just doesn’t make sense. In hundreds of reboots you fell in love with him. He always helped you, no matter what, and you always fell in love with him. Maybe your feelings for him haven’t developed for him yet.”

Eleanor frowns. “I’ve known him for years, any feelings that could develop would've happened by now.”

Michael pinches the bridge of his nose, leaning back in the driver’s seat. Eleanor looks at him with pity, not knowing what to say. The two sit in silence; Eleanor can practically see the cogs turning in the demon’s head. He must be telling the truth, at this point he has no reason to lie (as weird as it is for the untrusting Eleanor Shellstrop to say); but for the most part, she knows herself. Sure, she hides her feelings, pushing them down to avoid rejection; but she’s not doing that. She isn’t even sure if she can be in love with someone, she crushes lots; but even with her longest lasting boyfriend she’s not sure if she could consider it love.

“Oh no.” Michael exclaims as he jumps from his seat, folding his hands in his lap. “Are you kidding me, Eleanor?” He says loudly at her, great frustration in his voice. Her blue eyes widen with surprise, his tone immediately putting her into fight mode.

“Woah, what’s your problem, you lunatic! You’re the one that’s trying to get me with my best friend!” She yells.

Michael rubs his temples. “I can’t believe this is happening. I must have somehow read the numbers wrong; miscalculated everything!” 

“Can you please just tell me what you’re talking about?!” Eleanor shouts.

Michael sighs, trying to calm himself. “There was this one time.” 

Eleanor looks at him with intrigue, though anger still rests on her face.

“There was this one time where you fell in love with Tahani.” 

Eleanor softens a bit, and she can feel her heart drop. “What?”

“Well, throughout all the attempts, you always had an attraction to her; but it mostly remained aesthetic, being overrun by your feelings for Chidi. During attempt #218, I made her your ‘soulmate’, in hopes that your annoyance with her would do the torture on its own,” He stopped briefly to adjust his glasses. “but you two fell deeply in love, exactly the same you did for Chidi.”

Eleanor looked down at her lap, trying to process everything the demon just said to her. She swallows hard before speaking. “But- I’m not in love with Tahani either.” She says, a bit quieter.

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Then why isn’t the thought funny as being in love with Chidi?”

Eleanor looked at him, anger erupting inside her as the confusion with her feelings grows. “Listen, man, just stay out of my fucking love life. We’re doomed to hell anyway so why does it even matter?! Just drive.”

“Eleanor, please-“Michael tries.

“I’ve been through way too much today to begin thinking about any of this, just drive!” She says, folding her arms tightly and looking out the window. Michael stares at her, thinking that she resembled a toddler who didn’t get what she wanted.

And so, Michael drove.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleanor begins to take a look into chapter #218.

“and this is your soulmate, Tahani”

Eleanor looks up at her door where a tall woman leans on the frame, smiling at her with irritatingly perfect teeth. “Holy shirt.” Eleanor whispers under her breath. _Why can’t I say shirt_? She thinks. _Wait, I can’t even say it in my head? What the fork._

Standing at the door was Tahani Al-Jamil, Eleanor has seen her on magazines at the 7/11 checkout. She was famous for… Looking pretty? Being born rich? Something like that. Her sister Kamilah was a singer, she thinks. Her music was that pretentious kind of indie that Eleanor always despised, she only hoped that her “soulmate” had better taste. Even if she didn’t, this woman was too gorgeous for Eleanor to even care.

“I’m Eleanor.” She says, going in for a hug. Tahani leans down and hugs the smaller girl back awkwardly.

“Tahani Al-Jamil, you may have heard the name before.” She grins pompously as she disconnects from the hug, it should annoy Eleanor; but for whatever reason she found it kinda cute.

Eleanor smiles back genuinely, the first genuine smile she’s had before entering The Good Place. “I have! Your sister is Kamiliah!” She notices Tahani’s smile immediately fade. “Her music is ter-“ She pauses, clearing her throat.  “It’s not my taste.”

Tahani raises her eyebrows. “Mine either.”

The two look at each other for a moment, smiling. It makes Eleanor feel… Gross. Her heart rate increases, and her stomach feels like she just ate Taco Bell. It was just nerves, right? I mean, who wouldn’t be nervous if your identity could be revealed at any moment, sending you to hell. Yeah, that’s it.

“Well I suppose I’ll leave you two to settle in, then.” Michael says, making his way towards the door. “If you need anything I’m always here! And don’t be afraid to call Janet!” He closes the door behind him softly, leaving just the two women.

“Your house is certainly… Quaint” Tahani starts. “It’s small and quirkly, just like you!” She takes her index finger and gently touches Eleanor’s nose. “Boop!”

“Thank you!” Eleanor’s eyes widen, taken aback. “If you knew me back on earth you’d know that I just loved- clowns. Yep. Big creepy portraits of clowns. Disgustingly colourful pictures of-“

“What else did you like? -Back on earth.” Tahani interrupts.

Eleanor plops down onto small couch, where Tahani elegantly joins her. “Oh well, you know. Charity. Uhm- volunteering, documentaries about global warming… Things like that.” Eleanor lies, as if her favourite form of entertainment wasn’t reality TV. Her nerves rose more, thinking that maybe she should just confess before the lie goes too deep. But can she trust her? Maybe she should keep it going for a little longer, just to ensure that Tahani won’t tell Michael.

“I certainly do see why we’re soulmates then! I too loved nothing more than giving back to people. I once raised fifty million dollars to aid global warming research. I’m sure you’ve watched the documentary with my good friend Al Gore?” Tahani boasts.

“Yes, that’s definitely my favourite…” Eleanor lies once again. _Wasn’t he the president or something?_

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Tahani smiles brightly, clapping her hands together. “I’m simply thrilled to get to know more about you, dear Eleanor.” She places her hand on Eleanor’s, which makes the feeling in her stomach grow. The two look at each other again, as they did before, this time Eleanor can get her face grow warm. Those darn nerves. Tahani gets up from the couch just as gracefully as she sat down. “Well then, why don’t we meet some of our neighbours! We’ll be spending the rest of time with them, so it’s only good manners to say ‘hello’”.

“Yeah, I gue-“ Eleanor begins.

“Oh, I know! We should throw a party, so we can meet everyone!” The tall woman says excitedly, practically jumping up and down, though Eleanor doesn’t think she could in those heels even if she wanted to.

“Uh- sure!” Eleanor says, standing from the couch to meet Tahani’s eyes. “But I don’t think my house is big enough for the entire neighbourhood.” _It’s hardly big enough for you, you sexy giraffe._

Tahani giggles. “Don’t you worry, dear! We will throw it in my mansion, of course.”

“Your what?” Perhaps it’s the one beside her house with the unnecessary amount of water fountains. She supposes that she shouldn’t be surprised about Tahani having a mansion, that’s probably all she knows from her life on earth.

“My mansion! You know, everyone’s house is fit exactly to their wants and needs.” Tahani begins. “But I of course could still live in a quaint house such as yours.” She backtracks. “When I was volunteering in Haiti, I slept in a hut! I’m sure you can relate to that, can’t you darling?”

Eleanor nods with an unconvincing smile.

“Well then, let’s go tell Michael about the party so he can let the neighborhood know.” Tahani, says headed towards the door, opening it for Eleanor.

Eleanor, too distracted thinking about the hors d'oeurves and booze that will be served at a mansion party, doesn’t notice Tahani reaching her arm out for Eleanor to link her own with. How posh. She links hers with Tahani’s, as awkward as it is because of their height difference, and the two go off to find Michael.

-

“Darling, you look wonderful!” Tahani says, looking at Eleanor. “I knew this authentic Zuhair Murad would look better than that cocktail dress that you chose.” Tahani says, almost with disgust.

Eleanor looks at herself in the mirror, her hair done up into a tight, elegant bun, her face covered in more makeup than she normally would wear for a party. Though most of the parties she had gone to up until this point consisted of drinking until you couldn’t tell what you looked like. The dress was long and flowy, made of a dull, light-yellow colour covered with a delicate floral print. It was too much.

Tahani wore a shorter, yellow ruffled dress that complimented her complexion. The woman knew how to dress, that, Eleanor could admit.

“Thanks babe, you don’t look too bad yourself.” Eleanor says, surprising Tahani. It almost looked like she blushed.

“Let’s go show the neighbourhood how wonderful we are!” Tahani says.

The two walk down the large staircase into the even larger foyer, where many of their neighbours were already mingling. Tahani takes a wine glass and fork, clinking the two together to bring attention to herself. “Welcome everyone to the Al-Jamil-Shellstrop estate!” The last part caught Eleanor off guard, making her look up at Tahani who grinned back at her warmly. “We are both thrilled to have you here and are eager to meet you all. Please enjoy the drinks and hors d'oeurves, and have a wonderful night!” She finishes. She has obviously done this kind of speech before.

“How was that?” Tahani asks Eleanor as everyone begins to speak again. “Do you think it was good enough?"

Eleanor furrowed her eyebrows. “Oh- oh yeah it was great Tahani! Why are you so nervous?”

Tahani sighs. “I just want to ensure that my first impression was good, I wouldn’t want people who I’m going to be with forever to dislike me.” She justifies.

“How about we get you a drink.” Eleanor suggests. “I know I could use one.”

Tahani laughs, Eleanor can’t tell if it’s genuine.

Before she could get that drink however; Michael comes up to the two. “Hello Eleanor, hello Tahani! What a lovely house you have.”

Tahani nods politely. “Why thank you Michael, you built it after all.”

Michael waves his hand. “Oh it was nothing.” He says bashfully. “I’d like to introduce you two to Chidi and Jianyu. They’re soulmates, er- platonically. I thought you would like to meet them.”

Chidi reaches his hand out to shake, which Eleanor does, followed by Tahani. “It’s nice to meet you two.” He says politely. Eleanor and Tahani both look at Jianyu, waiting for an introduction. “Oh- Jianyu is a Taiwanese monk, he doesn’t speak; but I’m sure he’s excited to meet you as well.” Jianyu simply bows his head with a serene look on his face.

“I’ll leave you all to mingle, I’m going to go introduce some more people.” Michael says before walking away.

“It’s lovely to meet you two as well. Tell me a bit about yourself, Chidi.” Tahani says, probably hoping to be asked the same.

“Oh! Well I was a moral philosophy professor at St. John’s university in Australia; but I was brought up in Senegal.” He says, content. _Oh jeez._ Eleanor thinks. _A moral philosophy professor, can you get more ethical? … Wait a minute._

 “So you taught morals for a living?” Eleanor asks.

“I mean- there’s more to it than that but-“

“So you basically taught people how to be good?”

“I er- guess you can say that.” Chidi says, smiling squeamishly.

“That’s interesting, Chibi, very interesting.”

“It’s uhm Chidi, but thank you.”

Tahani looks down at the smaller woman with concerned eyes, confused at the way her soulmate was talking.

“I’ll go get us some drinks.” Eleanor says, before walking to Janet who held a tray of champagne glasses. She had already met the robot-lady once before when getting her dress sized for her, she was much more pleasant here than when she was scaring Eleanor half to death. If that’s even possible here. “Hey Janet, can I get two of those drinks?”

“Of course Eleanor.” She says, passing her two of the sparkling drinks with one hand. One talented robot.

Eleanor begins to walk away. “Oh, can I also get some hors d'eouves.”

With a pleasant bing sound, Janet holds some cocktail shrimp In her hand. “Here you go, your favourite right?”

“Oh fork yeah!” Eleanor exclaims. “Thanks robot-lady!” As she walks away she hears a cheerful ‘not a robot’ that she ignores.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That first chapter was far too short, here's a much longer one!


	3. Chapter 3

Eleanor watches as the tall woman waves goodbye to the Michael, the last ‘person’ to leave the party. She was tired, and quite drunk. It was painful having to pretend to care about these righteous people’s stories. How they dedicated their life to saving an endangered species Eleanor has never heard of, or died giving both of their kidneys to a complete stranger. She would constantly look up at Tahani who was linked with her arm, seeking approval of thinking that these people were insane; but she was always nodding and smiling, at least trying to feign interest. Who is she kidding? Tahani was a good person, she was probably _actually_ interested in all this shirt. Though she did take every moment she could to name drop a celebrity she knew, Eleanor probably would have found it unbearable if she wasn’t downing martinis.

Tahani sighs to herself after she closes the large door to the mansion. “Another successful party by Tahani Al-Jamil.”

Eleanor yawns, getting up from the stair that she was sitting on. “Sure was, babe.” The alcohol making her loosen up. “I guess I should head home, then.”

Tahani raises her eyebrows in surprise. “Oh no darling, you don’t have to walk home. You can stay here. This mansion is lovely; but it’s far too big for one person.”

Eleanor thinks about protesting, but the thought of staying in the disgustingly decorated house that she was assigned to stopped her. “I guess I can stay if you insist.”

Tahani’s face lights up. “Lovely, darling! Let’s go upstairs, shall we?”

The two walk up the many steps in silence, Eleanor looking over at Tahani every now and again. She seems lost in thought, not noticing.

“Where’s the guest bedroom?” Eleanor asks as the two arrive at the top floor.

“You aren’t going to stay in the master with me?” Tahani asks, for a moment Eleanor thinks she sounds disappointed.

“On the first date, Tahani? At least buy me dinner first.” Eleanor jokes, grinning slyly.

Tahani’s face grows pink. “N-no! I just thought it would be uhm- lonely for you.”

Eleanor smiles warmly, placing her hand on the Tahani’s shoulder. “I know, hot stuff, I’m just kidding with you, don’t worry. Just a warning though, I’m a kicker.” She says matter-of-factly as she walks toward the huge master bedroom down the hall.

The two walk into the room, Eleanor looking up at the ceiling at the beautiful chandelier that hung above the gigantic bed, which was certainly larger than any king that she has seen.

“I’m going to quickly do my night-time routine, darling. You can change and slip into bed if you’d like.” Tahani says sweetly as she walks into the master bathroom.

Eleanor watches as she closes the door, thinking about how she got here and what to do. She needs to visit Chili. He will certainly teach her how to be a good person since he’s…  good and all. That way she can become the person that Tahani thinks she is and avoid telling her the truth all together! Avoidance is always the best solution, the motto of Eleanor Shellstrop.

“Uhm. Janet?”

“Hi Eleanor!” Janet appears in front of her gleefully.

“Can you get me some pajamas?”

With a bing, Janet holds the same pajamas that Eleanor would wear back on earth. An old college t shirt and comfortable plaid pants.

“Thanks.” She says, taking the clothes. “Can I also have something to take this makeup off with.

“Done!” Janet says after the bing. “Your face is now makeupless!”

Eleanor touches her face, noticing that it was indeed clear of any foundation. “Woah… What else can you do?”

“Anything you need! That’s what Janets are for.”

Eleanor thinks of an inappropriate joke she can make but decides to let it go. Janet disappears, once again with the pleasant sound. She takes the large dress of as quickly as she can, dropping it to the floor with a sigh. After putting the comfortable pajamas on she climbs into the large bed and onto the silk sheets, it was the most luxurious material she’s ever felt. Being rich must be amazing. Her eyes begin to feel heavy as soon as her head hits the pillow, but open widely when she hears the bathroom door open.

“Much better.” Tahani says as she strides towards the bed. “Are you comfortable, love?”

Eleanor looks up, her eyes widening as she sees Tahani, her face bare and she’s dressed in a short wine-coloured nightdress. Eleanor’s stomach drops, and her heart begins to flutter again, that same nervous feeling she kept feeling the whole day.

“Eleanor?” Tahani tries as she climbs into the apposing side of the bed.

“Uh- yeah. I’m great.” Eleanor responds.

Tahani claps twice and the lights turn off, leaving the two alone in a pitch-black room. Eleanor’s fatigue has disappeared, all she can do is stare at Tahani’s back. It stays silent for a while, the only noise being the sound of their calm breathing. Believing that Tahani was asleep, she manages to turn herself over onto her back, now staring at the ceiling.

“Eleanor?” Tahani asks quietly, startling Eleanor.

“Yea?” She says looking back over to Tahani who is turning to face her.

“Did you think that your soulmate would be a woman?” Tahani inquires sheepishly, avoiding eye contact.

“Well there was a 50/50 chance.” Eleanor begins. “But I’m glad it is, men get boring after a while.” She laughs to herself. “You?”

“I guess I didn’t really know.” She sighs. “I had a few relationships on earth and they were all with men… But I never really felt anything for them.”

“How do you feel about this?” Eleanor blurts out, instantly regretting it.

Tahani pauses for a moment before smiling. “I like it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this third chapter, I can't wait to show you where I'm taking this! >:) You can send me Elhani prompts on Tumblr @ fuckingparty if you want, I've already posted a few there if you'd like to read them!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed my first TGP fanfiction! Don't be too alarmed by the fact that this is unfinished, I plan to update it soon and finish before the end of the year. There's not enough content for these two it would be a sin to leave you Elhanis hanging.


End file.
